GAT-1 Antibody

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, causing a hyperpolarization of the membrane through the opening of a Cl− channel associated with the GABAA receptor (GABAA-R) subtype. GABA plasma membrane transporters (GATs) influence synaptic neurotransmission by high-affinity uptake and release of GABA. To date, four distinct GABA transporters have been identified: GAT-1, GAT-2, GAT-3, and BGT-1. GAT-1, the most abundant of the transporters, is found predominantly in neurons, but also in some specialized glia (Minelli et al., 1995) . GAT-1 is thought to play a key role in epileptogenesis (Zhao et al. 2003) .

The antibody has been directly tested for reactivity in Western blots with rat tissue. It is anticipated that the antibody will also react with mouse tissue based on the fact that this species has 100% homology with the amino acid sequence used as antigen.

Minelli A, Brecha NC, Karschin C, DeBiasi S, Conti F (1995) GAT-1, a high-affinity GABA plasma membrana transporter, is localizad to neurons and astroglia int he cerebral cortex. J. Neurosci. 15 (11) :7734-7746.

Zhao WJ, Ma YH, Fei J, Mei ZT, Guo LH (2003) Increase in drug-induced seizure susceptibility of transgenic mice overexpressing GABA transporter 1. Acta Pharmacol. Sin. 24 (10) :991-5.